The Giants remained red-hot in returning from the All-Star break, but face a team that often bounces back after a loss.
New York Mets at San Francisco Giants
New York started its season-high 11-game road trip by getting shutout in a 2-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park. The Mets have lost four of their last five games and have managed to score just three runs in the four losses. Despite failing to score a run, the lineup received a boost with the return of outfielder Carlos Beltran, playing his first game since May 20, 2009. “After being out for so long and going through a very long process, I was happy,” Beltran said. He went 1-for-4 last night and hit .367 with five RBI in 14 rehabilitation games. New York still holds a 14-8 series edge against the Giants over the last three years and have won the last four series in the Bay Area since 2006. The club has compiled a 14-10 record against left-handed starters this season (+420), with the total being 10-12-2 O/U in those games.
With news about George Steinbrenner passing away rocking the baseball world only two days after former Yankees’ public address announcer Bob Sheppard died, it seems almost wrong to look at the business side of the sport.
Atlanta has pushed its lead in the NL East standings to six games with its current five-game winning streak after shutting out the New York Mets 3-0 at Citi Field on Saturday afternoon. “It’s good to be in first place going into the break,” said manager Bobby Cox. The Braves are now a season-high 17 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2005 season. The latest win pushed its daytime record to 18-11 this season (+660) and the total moving to 16-13 O/U with just four runs posted on the scoreboard. Atlanta is averaging 5.6 runs per game offensively while holding teams to 4.2 runs with a combined .238 average. The club is 17-14 versus the division this season (+10), but a dominating 13-3 in their past 16 meetings.
